Shakespeare's tragic drama about a Roman general tested by rioting, war, rejection-and his own all-consuming anger. Enraged by the withholding of food, the common people of the Roman Republic are rebelling against the elite. In this battle between plebeians and patricians, Caius Marcius has little patience for those he considers beneath him and his family. After his military victory in the city of Corioli, Marcius is given the nickname Coriolanus...

Presents the English statesman's classic denunciations of sixteenth-century tyranny and corruption and vision of an ideal society, along with historical and biographical notes

Huckleberry Finn is a young boy in the 1840's, who runs away from home, and floats down the Mississippi River. He meets a run away slave named Jim and the two undertake a series of adventures. As the story progresses the duo exploit an array of episodic enterprises, while Huckleberry slowly changes his views of bigotry. Along the way, Huck and Jim meet the King and Duke, who ultimately send the protagonists towards a different route on their journey....

With an Introduction by Anthony Briggs Translated by Louise Maude This powerful novel, Tolstoy's third major masterpiece, after War and Peace and Anna Karenina, begins with a courtroom drama (the finest in Russian literature) all the more stunning for being based on a real-life event. Dmitri Nekhlyudov, called to jury service, is astonished to see in the dock, charged with murder, a young woman whom he once seduced, propelling her into prostitution....

Many great artists have had at least intermittent doubts about their own abilities. But The Education of Henry Adams is surely one of the few masterpieces to issue directly from a raging inferiority complex. The author, to be sure, had bigger shoes to fill than most of us. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather were U.S. presidents. His father, a relative underachiever, scraped by as a member of Congress and ambassador to the Court of St. James....

Consisting of three novels and two interludes, "The Forsyte Saga" chronicles several generations of an upper middle class British family at the beginning of the twentieth century. Full of social satire, "The Man of Property" commences this fictional history and introduces the first generation of Forsytes, prominently featuring Soames and his wife Irene. Keenly aware of their nouveau riche standing and highly desirous of material possessions, Soames...

Contains the text of the play, information about Shakespeare and his theatre, bibliography, key to famous lines, and explanatory notes.

The Eustace Diamonds is the story of beautiful Lizzie Greystock. She is a beautiful but greedy and an unscrupulous woman who marries wealthy Sir Florian Eustace. He soon leaves her a widow in possession of a rare, expensive diamond necklace. The family lawyer wants the necklace returned, but Lizzie is determined to retain it at all costs.

Written in the middle of the 14th century as the Bubonic Plague decimated the population of Europe, "The Decameron" is a satirical and allegorical collection of stories by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. Constructed as a series of "frame stories," or stories within a story, the narrative follows seven young women and three young men who take refuge in a secluded villa outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death. During ten evenings of their...

The Life and Death of King John, one of William Shakespeare's historical plays, delves into the tumultuous reign of one of England's most controversial monarchs. This gripping drama, often overshadowed by Shakespeare's more famous works, offers a vivid portrayal of the struggle for power and the complexities of royal politics in the 13th century. Shakespeare examines King John's conflict with France, his turbulent relationship with the Church,...